re: Is the China real estate bubble now popping?

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Christ almighty, that is insane. Beijing must be surreal.

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It is. I've worked there twice over the past few years and it's a nightmare.

I was staying at a 5-star hotel in the "nice" area, near the Forbidden Palace and Tiananmen Square, and whenever I went out for a walk, it was like being in an ant hill. The air pollution was suffocating at times (I was there in late May on one of my trips and the weather was already pretty hot and humid). I could actually "taste" the air I was breathing.

And crossing a major street on foot? Forget about it!

It wasn't the cars I was afraid of. They would stop at the red lights.

It was the thousands of bicyclists who ignored red lights and would barrel down on anyone and anything in their path, all the while ringing those annoying bells on their handle bars.

Beijing also was the only place I've worked where I had something confiscated by the government: a disposable film camera I'd bought at a kiosk because I had forgotten to bring my digital camera. Apparently I took a photo of something I was not supposed to take a picture of. So my "handler" at work told me it would be his pleasure to see that my film got developed and returned to me before I left to come home. I told him that was a very nice offer but not necessary. Then he said, "Sorry, but I insist. Please give me your camera."

I got the message. I never got any of my pictures back.

I think I know what it was they didn't want me to have a picture of but it was so silly (I took a picture of a two-person, ultra-light plane at an amusement park which clipped the top of a tree at the end of the 'runway' and crashed on take off, injuring the pilot and the passenger), I'm not sure that is what it was. It's the only thing that might have been a little embarrassing for them if I were to put it on the internet, I suppose.